Help Saed Habib Get His Family Out of Gaza

My dear friend, Saed, is the Deputy Director of Gaza Sky Geeks, a tech accelerator in Gaza that helps his community's high unemployment rate due to the blockade. Through his work, he was able to create HOPE for thousands of youth in Gaza, Now, it's our turn to create hope for Saed & his family, Saed urgently needs our help. We are raising money for the exit fees of 13 adults and 12 children.

Please make sure to read the latest updates! Follow Saed's Instagram/Linkedin/TikTok to stay connected and get live updates!

From Saed:

Despite challenges in Gaza, we managed to create a good life.

But since October, we have had to evacuate multiple times.

Our family is very connected to each other: I am a husband, a father of young children, a brother, an uncle, and a son with an ailing father in a wheelchair.

Together, we tried our best to hold on and not take the hardest decision of leaving the country. We know leaving may mean we never see our homeland again. It's painful.

We stayed more than 140 days under the toughest conditions and we cannot take it anymore. I have to look out for my children, my wife, my siblings and their children, and our parents. We are in Rafah, which is the last resort. And the threats of invading it create a grim picture for us. With my father now in a wheelchair, and most of our family being women and small children, my family won't be able to handle what's coming.

I need your support to help me evacuate my family to safety. The money raised is only for the exit fees for 13 adults and 12 children. Once we are in Egypt, we will carry on with the rest. Thank you for helping us survive the unimaginable.

From Holly:

Who is collecting money for Saed? Are they legitimate?

My name is Holly Elissa (Dignard). I'm an actor/filmmaker and NGO founder from Canada currently residing in Europe (hence collecting in EUR). My NGO is a Canadian registered charity and under charity laws of Canada, a charity cannot fundraise solely for a single family or group of people which is why I'm launching this GoFundMe independently at the request of my friend Saed.

I've been to West Bank, Palestine numerous times. I'm connected to and been to Palestine via my NGO's partnership with Palestinian Animal League and as a film professional via FilmLab Palestine's Cinema Days. I learned about GSG by kismet while taking a taxi van to a hotel in Jerusalem in 2017. Sitting next to me in that taxi was an American who was (and is) a frequent GSG volunteer. I then met Saed in 2018 when I was looking to hire developers from GSG to build a streaming platform for a Canadian start-up media company. Like many start-ups, the platform didn't come to fruition but Saed and I remained friends and colleagues. He and I were trying to get a paracycling athlete from Gaza to Canada just as the pandemic hit and lockdown shut down the world. Saed is 'good people' and always trying to help others.

How does the money get to Saed?

All monies will be directly transfered to Saed and we will keep supporters updated on every penny and where it went. Unfortunately, Saed is not eligible to set up a GoFundMe directly however he does have a Paypal account. As many know Paypal is not linked with any Palestinian banks, same as these platforms. All proceeds will be collected at the end of each day and be deposited into a separate account I've created with my WISE bank account (formerly TransferWise). Wise is a multi-currency account that makes transfering funds in various currencies very easy and quickly, typically faster than traditional brick and mortar banks. I am able to transfer funds directly to Saed to his Paypal account. He and I have never had any previous issues sending money this way. However, if a problem arises, we have a travel banking app as a backup that works well. Transfers are made in increments based on daily maximum transaction limits. Saed and I are in daily communication when service on his end allows. This is a team effort to get his family to safety.

How is the money used?

The total cost of evacuation fees/permits comes to 120k USD, approximately 111k EUR. We are trying to factor in GoFundMe fees as well which are 2.9% + 0.30 per donation. With that in mind, we've set the goal to 113k to give a small buffer.

Please message me here if you have any questions and I'll be sure to get back to you as swiftly as possible.